This prequel to Chocolat tells the story of Vianne Rocher as she arrives in Marseilles six years before the events of the original novel, to find a growing conspiracy that could threaten all she has worked for. Vianne is the story of Vianne Rocher and begins six years before she opens her chocolaterie in the small French village of Lansquenet. Just twenty-one years old, Sylviane arrives in Marseille to start a new life, and charms her way into a job as a waitress in a run-down bistrot. Here, under the guidance of eccentric Guy Lacarrière she discovers the joy of cooking, a secret love affair and, for the very first time, the true magic of chocolate. Yet as she starts to dream of making a future for herself in the town, she finds herself at the centre of a growing conspiracy that will threaten everything she's fought so hard for.